


Up Against Me

by Ziane



Category: Founder of Diabolism, The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Genre: Drunken Confessions, Fluff, Literal Sleeping Together, Love Confessions, M/M, mentions of drinking and smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-24 20:24:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21344197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ziane/pseuds/Ziane
Summary: In a night of self-indulgence, Jiang Cheng finds the courage he needed to confess the secret that has been eating him alive.
Relationships: Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín/Niè Huáisāng
Comments: 23
Kudos: 181





	Up Against Me

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by [@daraminz's](https://twitter.com/daraminz/status/1190612722616086531) art on Twitter. Please! Go check it out before you read and give them some love (۶ꈨຶꎁꈨຶ )۶ʸᵉᵃʰᵎ
> 
> Also, Happy belated Birthday, Jiang Cheng!!! ლζ*♡ε♡*ζლ

Wei Ying’s party got out of hand when the birthday boy fled with Lan Wangji presumably to continue the celebration in the privacy of his apartment. Nie Huaisang shivers in the cold of an early first of November as he accompanies a severely intoxicated Jiang Cheng back home. If only he could find a cab at these wee hours. They left their friends at the pub, still celebrating in the absence of the guest of honor, but when he caught Jiang Cheng taking random pictures with his phone and babbling nonsense -he stifled a laugh- and then he decided it was time to put him to bed. Alcohol ruined their chances tonight, but he wouldn’t get any sleep not knowing Jiang Cheng is safe in his bed. That’s what friends are for.

A warm, cozy jacket hangs over his shoulders, and Nie Huaisang looks up at Jiang Cheng wearing a buttoned-up shirt with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. “You’re not cold?”

“You’re shivering,” he says, struggling with a tongue too big for his mouth before he shudders in the nocturnal gale. Nie Huaisang sighs and motions to return the jacket when Jiang Cheng stands behind him, arms rounding his neck. “Don’t take it off,” he chastises. “It’ll smell like you tomorrow.” Nie Huaisang snorts and Jiang Cheng lets go of him as they resume their walk.

This would have been the perfect night to put an end to their back-and-forth game. It’s no secret Nie Huaisang has always been weak for Jiang Cheng, and that the latter has -according to Wei Wuxian- more than a crush on him. They flirt sometimes, talk and hang out almost every day; they’re friends, but whenever things get too heated or too serious, Jiang Cheng gets tongue-tied and changes the subject. Nie Huaisang fears they’ll never be ready to admit whatever feelings they hold for each other. Perhaps it’ll end in nothing and they’ll never solve this thing between them.

“My birthday is in five days,” Jiang Cheng blurts out. "You're invited."

“I know,” Nie Huaisang says, a smile curling his lips upward. “Have I missed any since we know each other?”

“No. It's just everyone is so excited about Wei Wuxian's birthday and my party is always boring compared to his.”

“What do you want for your birthday?” They’re good at small talk, at spending time together and feeling comfortable around the other, and far from the bar, Jiang Cheng seems to get over the amount of alcohol running through his veins. Or so he believes. 

“You.” Jiang Cheng takes his phone out of his pocket and stands in front of him, blocking the way as he takes a picture. Nie Huaisang cannot help but smile.

“What has gotten into you?” he chuckles. “Is that what you want? A picture?”

Jiang Cheng glances at him with sparks in his eyes. “You up against me.” Another click, another unsolicited picture, but Nie Huaisang stays still, dumbfounded by his words until he rolls his eyes, realizing his not-so-drunk friend is most likely shit-faced right now.

“What are you going to do with so many pictures of me?” he retorts.

“Keep them.” With a furrow between his eyebrows, Jiang Cheng types on his phone ignoring who until now, was his model.

“What are you doing?” Nie Huaisang approaches him but Jiang Cheng turns on his heels, stumbling on his own feet and resumes his precarious wandering down the street. Nie Huaisang walks abreast of him. “Let me see!”

“I’m posting one online,” he says, focused on the task.

“No!” Nie Huaisang tries to steal the phone from his hand, but drunk and all, Jiang Cheng will always be taller. “Stop, give me that.” At the little jump trying to steal the cell from his hand, Jiang Cheng grins.

“Everyone needs to see how pretty you are,” Jiang Cheng says with a dopey smile.

Nie Huaisang gasps, his cheeks turning a new shade of red at the statement that he never thought would come out of his friend’s lips. “You’re definitely drunker than I thought.” Jiang Cheng shows him triumphantly the masterpiece he decided to share with the world. “And this is all blurry!” Nie Huaisang squints his eyes, looking at it closely.

“It’s not!” Jiang Cheng protests. “Look at how pretty you are!”

“This one is from the party,” Nie Huaisang mumbles, his fingertips barely grazing the surface of the screen as he makes up his features in the watercolor mixture. The lack of light of the place and Jiang Cheng’s shaking hands are most likely responsible for it. But it’s him nonetheless, and he’s smiling, smoking a cigarette, distracted and pensive when he thought no one was looking at him.

“I like the things on your shirt,” Jiang Cheng mumbles, toying with the frill on the collar of his top. He stands in front of him, his eyes glancing back at him as he tucks a strand of his shoulder-length hair behind his ear. “Better.” Nie Huaisang’s lips part in defeat at how sweet Jiang Cheng is, looking at him in a daze as if he hadn't had his eyes on him all night. “You’re always so beautiful and I mean to tell you every single time, but I can’t.” He groans the last part.

Nie Huaisang smiles, but it’s a sad smile. His feelings for Jiang Cheng are ingrained so deep in his soul he has no doubt he’ll smile forever at this unasked praise, but the idea of him returning them is nothing more than wishful thinking. They’ve known each other for so long, they’ve settled as good friends, and even though Jiang Cheng has never dated anyone in the time they’ve known each other, there’s always a veil of doubt right when he thinks something between them might happen.

“That’s the alcohol talking,” Nie Huaisang whispers.

“Not true!” Jiang Cheng shakes his head adorably, his chin quivering slightly before a deep furrow settles in between his eyebrows. “It’s your quiet beauty. The way your smile reaches the corners of your eyes.” Nie Huaisang’s eyes bulge and his mouth parts in surprise. “How you paint your nails or wear lipstick sometimes.” Jiang Cheng rubs his thumb on his lips as if he could still find the intent shade of red he wore earlier that night. Upon seeing him, he could only think about how to bite his lips until his lipstick ruined both their mouths, and with that thought, Jiang Cheng downed the first two pints of the night.

“It’s g-gone n-now,” Nie Huaisang stutters.

“You have pretty lips too.” Nie Huaisang smiles at the praise, a familiar heat tingeing his cheeks red as he averts his gaze. But Jiang Cheng grasps his chin and tilts his head up until their gazes meet. His usually bright blue eyes are dark, pupils blown.

“When you look at me I forget my cue, the words, and I never tell you.”

“T-tell me what?” His breath hitches in his chest as he feels the world spinning around them.

“That you mean the world to me, Huaisang,” Jiang Cheng whispers, slurring the words in a mixture of weariness, drunkenness, and honesty.

“A-Cheng,” he gasps.

“Just by existing you bring me joy, make me want to be better, try harder, attempt the impossible even though I’m not good enough.” Jiang Cheng shrugs, his hand cupping his face. “All because of your smile, your laugh, the way you look at me as if you knew, and you were waiting for me to tell you.” His eyebrows knit again. “I should tell you,” he says. “I should tell you as soon as I can and stop being such a dick.”

Nie Huaisang stifles a chuckle and sighs instead. Jiang Cheng stares at him in a daze, so what can he do but smile at what he just confessed out of the blue? They say drunks and children always speak the truth, and for all he knows, Jiang Cheng won’t remember any of this in the morning. At least he can keep on waiting with renewed hope that there will be a time for them.

“Huaisang,” Jiang Cheng says.

“Hm?”

“Can you stop moving around?”

Nie Huaisang breaks into a hearty chuckle despite the seriousness of the one-sided conversation. He removes his jacket from his shoulders and helps Jiang Cheng slide it back on before he freezes. “Let’s go home, okay?” he whispers, linking an arm around his waist to steady him while Jiang Cheng throws a slack arm over his shoulders and nods in confusion.

“Not my flat,” he mumbles. “I can’t spend the night listening to Wei Wuxian going at it with Lan Wangji.”

“And where do you intend to sleep?”

“In your bed?” Jiang Cheng stumbles on his own feet. 

“Where am I going to sleep then?” he teases, waving his hand at the taxi that is dropping off its passengers a few meters ahead.

“With me, by my side,” Jiang Cheng states as if the alcohol had loosened up his strings, and he had found the courage he needed to speak his mind.

“You’re so drunk,” Nie Huaisang scoffs, opening the door of the cab and shoving Jiang Cheng in with a hand on top of his head.

“I’ve never been more soberer!” he protests.

The car ride is smooth and pleasant, Jiang Cheng dozing off with his head against his shoulder, his hand hugging his knee. Nie Huaisang has enough material to tease him for the next ten years, and a silly smile stretches on his lips all the way back to his place. He tries not to dwell on what Jiang Cheng said, blaming the alcohol for the sweetest, most beautiful confession he’ll ever hear in his life. And it was just for him.

Once they get to his flat, they sneak into his room. Carrying a half-asleep Jiang Cheng is a challenge, and Nie Huaisang sighs in relief when he sits him on the edge of his bed. He moves the clothes he didn’t wear tonight to the chair of his desk and comes back to a mumbling Jiang Cheng.

“Stay there, don’t fall asleep yet.”

Nie Huaisang hustles to tug at his shoes and helps him out of his jacket. “You’re so good to me,” he babbles. Nie Huaisang chuckles but he loses his smile when Jiang Cheng unbuckles his belt and pries open his jeans, shimming them off with difficulty. He swallows thickly, trying not to stare at the purple boxer briefs he never thought Jiang Cheng would wear.

He finishes removing his jeans and stands. “You’re all set now.” Jiang Cheng stumbles back with a groan, his head probably spinning like crazy, his shirt still wet with marks of the glass of water Nie Huaisang forced him to drink in the kitchen. He helps him inside the covers, staring lovingly at him as his eyes flutter closed as soon as his head hits the pillow.

With a soft smile on his lips, Nie Huaisang tousles his short hair. “Sleep tight, A-Cheng.” He turns around, already itching to get into his pajamas and improvise a bed on the floor. The tables have turned. When Jiang Cheng stays over he’s usually the one spending the night on a sleeping bag at the feet of his bed. The one time they slept together was at Jiang Cheng’s, and Nie Huaisang still regrets having peeled himself off his body in the morning, running away like a coward.

But something grasps his wrist and gives a weak tug at his arm. Not something, Jiang Cheng. “Stay,” he croaks. “Sleep with me.” Bleary eyes plead at him, and Nie Huaisang’s countenance softens irremediably. “Just… let me hold you.”

“But…” Nie Huaisang gasps.

“I’ll behave.” The slow, lazy smile that conquers his lips fills his stomach with butterflies. “I promise.”

As if he were worried at all! Nie Huaisang snorts faintly. Jiang Cheng couldn’t even get out of bed without help, much less do something stupid they would regret in the morning. Obviously, they’re just sleeping. “Okay, I’ll be back in a moment.”

Jiang Cheng lets him go reluctantly. “I’m not sleeping without you,” he threatens in a hoarse voice, melting Nie Huaisang’s heart.

After taking his clothes off and putting on a shirt and some comfortable pajama pants, Nie Huaisang slides on the other side of the single bed. He turns the bedside lamp off and stares at the ceiling. They’re a bit snug, sharing a pillow and a duvet, but they’ve always been comfortable around the other. Nie Huaisang smiles, and it wouldn’t be the first time albeit Jiang Cheng’s bed was bigger and fit the two of them.

It’s Jiang Cheng who rolls on a side, throwing an arm over his stomach and snuggling into him as he yawns. “Are you feeling better?” Nie Huaisang whispers, his heart thumping in his chest. What a night! A drunken confession, Jiang Cheng refusing to sleep anywhere but in his bed and by his side. And although the words sting when he blames the alcohol for his improvised love confession, he’s determined to laugh it off and tease him, that’s if Jiang Cheng is still in his bed by the morning or if he remembers at all.

“Everything spins, but… yeah,” he grunts. “Come closer.” Jiang Cheng prods at his belly until Nie Huaisang rolls on a side with his back at him, his folded arms underneath the pillow, his cheeks as red as his favorite lipstick. Jiang Cheng nuzzles at his neck, holding him closer than he’s ever dared in his life even though he has wanted this for so long now. “Huaisang,” he whispers almost inaudibly, his lids heavy, and his mind foggy.

“Hm?”

“You’re mine,” he breathes out against his neck. “All mine.”

With the sound of his voice in his ear and an answer his brain didn’t process, Jiang Cheng wakes up after not enough sleep. Someone’s hammering in his head and he’s ready to curse and pity himself for his hangover when a warm body shifts by his side and he realizes he’s been spooning Nie Huaisang all night long. He blinks, eyelashes fluttering against his onyx hair. Their hands are interlaced together under the pillow, and Jiang Cheng hides a dopey smile on his tickling hair.

Even though he would love to bask in the situation, Jiang Cheng squirms out of the bed as silently as he can. In the bathroom, he turns the tap on and chugs at the stream of water until his belly is full and the thick taste in his mouth is gone. As he awakens, flashes of last night come back to him and even looking at his reflection in the mirror makes him blush like a teenager.

He really poured his heart out to Nie Huaisang with a babbling mouth and nothing to lose. No self-control and a little too much to drink unleashed what he always wanted to say to him. After flushing the toilet and rising his teeth with mouthwash to take away the taste of the many beers, he shouldn’t have had last night, he comes back to the bedroom and his jaw drops.

The beauty still in the bed almost makes him forget about the annoying headache pulsing in his temples. His disheveled hair covers partly his face, plump lips parted, soft snoring coming out of them. Nie Huaisang shifts under the covers, a leg completely out of the duvet.

Jiang Cheng ponders the idea of leaving and facing his embarrassment alone, but a full-on smile stretches on his lips. He’s definitely not ready to leave yet when he needs like ten more hours of sleep holding Nie Huaisang close to his chest. And he remembers what it felt to wake up without him and doubted his feelings until they saw each other again and acted as if nothing had happened besides a friendly sleepover.

After last night, he’s not so sure he can pretend any longer Nie Huaisang doesn’t own his heart before he even realized about his feelings. Jiang Cheng slides back in the bed behind him, nuzzling at his neck, his arm winding around his chest to pull him even closer. Their legs tangle as he promises to himself that’s how far he’ll go until he wakes up.

But it’s Nie Huaisang who writhes as he comes out of deep sleep and right into his arms, pushing back against him. Jiang Cheng mumbles a curse under his breath. “Too close?” he whispers.

“Uh-uh.” Nie Huaisang interlaces their fingers together and sinks into the warmth of his chest and the tenderness of his embrace. Half-asleep, half-awake in heaven. “Good morning,” he croaks.

“Huaisang,” Jiang Cheng calls, taking advantage of his sleepy state. “Y-yesterday I wasn’t that drunk. I like you and I meant everything I said,” he whispers against his ear, his heart thumping in his chest so hard he’s sure Nie Huaisang can feel it against his back.

“I know,” he breathes out. “I’ve known…” He squeezes his hand, a lazy smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Took you long enough,” he teases.

Jiang Cheng bites back a groan against his neck, his leg sneaking between his thighs to pull him even closer into the cage of his arms. “I didn’t know how to…” Nie Huaisang shushes him, reveling in the way his arms tighten around him, at how many nights he’s dreamed of this in this same bed and how many tears he’s shed when he thought his love was unrequited and foolish.

A teasing, hot mouth falls against his neck and kisses his way down his shoulder. “You said you’d behave if I let you sleep in my bed,” he mumbles, tilting his head enough to leave room for more of those soft nibbles and open-mouthed kisses on his skin.

Jiang Cheng skims his fingertips over the hem of his shirt, sneaking inside to feel the soft touch of his creamy skin. Now that he has started, he doubts he can stop. “Do you want me to?”

Nie Huaisang turns into his arms to face him. The blush on his cheeks makes Jiang Cheng’s stomach flip because if he was beautiful last night, first thing in the morning, with hooded lids and that sultry smile he’s ravishing. “Don’t you think you should kiss me somewhere else?” he quips, pursing his lips.

“Long overdue.” Jiang Cheng takes his time, cupping his face and stroking his cheek with his thumb while his gaze is torn between drowning into those golden eyes that stare at him with a love-struck glance and his plump, rosy lips. He leans down and presses their lips together, his breath seizing in his chest, his whole body trembling when Nie Huaisang gasps into his mouth and yields to the kiss.

Jiang Cheng tastes like freshwater with a minty aftertaste which brings a smile to his kissing lips. Their first kiss, the first of many Nie Huaisang hopes, and it’s everything he’s ever wanted: sweet, and soft, sleepy and tamed. Jiang Cheng kisses him as if he were precious and delicate, but his hands hold him as though he wanted to fuse with him at this moment. It ends in a shared gasp, their lips brushing gingerly as they breathe the same air, the same smile, their hearts beating at the same relentless tempo.

“Did you use my mouthwash?” Nie Huaisang says teasingly while Jiang Cheng peppers soft pecks on his lips. “Were you planning on kissing me first thing in the morning?”

“Well,” Jiang Cheng scoffs, his cheeks blooming in pink. “No, yes… m-maybe.” He rolls over Nie Huaisang, not minding the revealing closeness of their bodies pressed against each other upon waking up. “I’ve been wanting to for ages,” he whispers, kissing both his cheeks one by one, then his pointy nose and again his smirking lips.

“You can kiss me all you want,” Nie Huaisang chortles, his arms winding around Jiang Cheng’s neck, fingers threading in his short, mussed hair. His scent invades his nostrils, but it’s deeper, amplified by their sleepover and sprinkled with so many kisses his head spins and his stomach tumbles over from joy. “But…” he gasps, eyes springing open as he remembers.

“Hm?” Jiang Cheng traps his lips for another kiss, following the suggestion of kissing him to his heart’s content.

“A-Cheng,” Nie Huaisang worries at his lower lip as he meets his gaze.

“Yes?”

“I forgot to mention my brother is back this weekend.”

“Oh, okay…” Jiang Cheng frowns.

“And he’s staying at my place,” Nie Huaisang whispers when a loud banging on his door startles them both.

Fear crawls up Jiang Cheng’s spine as he hides underneath the covers, pressing his face on Nie Huaisang’s flat stomach. As though the bedding would protect him from Nie Mingjue’s rage if he finds him in his brother’s bed when he’s not been introduced officially. “Breakfast’s ready, Huaisang!” Nie Mingjue’s resounding voice reaches them clear and loud. “Are you up? You promised you’d come to the gym with me!”

Nie Huaisang lifts the duvet and glances down at a terrified Jiang Cheng. “He’s going to kill me,” he mouths, and Nie Huaisang pats his head lightly as he stifles a laugh.

“What would I do without you, then?” Nie Huaisang whispers, beaming at him with the smuggest, sleepy smile he has ever seen.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! .+:｡(ﾉ･ω･)ﾉﾞ  
I hope you enjoyed these two fools in love <33
> 
> Se y'all on the next one! ~ヾ ＾∇＾  
Which will be this Saturday... when I post the last chapter of ["Three Nights in the Sun"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21183815/chapters/50424746) *screams in SangCheng*


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